Step aside Williams-Sonoma and Sur La Table. A locally owned concept is bringing some of the top kitchenware brands to Lafayette.
Lafayette native Paul Ayo and his wife Jenine hope to have E's Kitchen up and running in Parc Lafayette within two months. The 1,900-square-foot store is opening next to Armentor Jewelers in the new mixed-use development near the intersection of Camellia Boulevard and Kaliste Saloom Road.
"Our tagline is better service, better products. It'll be a place for people in Lafayette that actually love to cook, a place for them to go to buy the cooking supplies they reallly want ... a level above what you can get in the box store," Paul Ayo says. E's Kitchen will offer a wide selection of unique kitchenware and gadgets; among its top brands are Shun Knives, Swiss Diamond (hard-surface non-stick cook ware), Regal Ware (American-made pots and pans), Joseph Joseph (gadgets and utensils), Edgeware (knife sharpening tools) and Kuhn Rikon (Swiss made cook ware and tools). "There are quite a few that are really exciting, to be honest," says Ayo, noting that an emphasis will be on carrying American-made products.
E's Kitchen will also offer cooking and product demonstrations.
Paul Ayo says he's long wanted to start his own business and that market research revealed a gap in the market for locals who love to cook and want to be able to test and touch the very latest products on the market before buying. E's Kitchen will afford them that opportunity.
Ayo's parents, Elroy and Elaine Doucet, are also assisting in the venture.
Jenine is a school teacher, and for the past five years Paul was business manager at Honda of Lafayette, a position he left in December to start E's Kitchen. He was finance manager at Honda of Lafayette for four years before becoming business manager and also spent a year as store manager of San Francisco Music Box Co.